University of York Undergraduate Chemistry Degrees Accredited

Posted on 20 September 2012

The Department is delighted to announce that all of its undergraduate degree courses have recently been re-accredited by The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). This means that all of our BSc and MChem degrees are recognised by the RSC as providing high quality training and skills in Chemistry. York Chemistry is one of the very first departments in the UK to have its BSc degree accredited by the RSC.

Student working in lab

As part of the accreditation process, independent experts visited York and carefully scrutinised our degree programmes.  They also interviewed a variety of staff members as well as York undergraduates.  In their report the external assessors noted 'many positive aspects'.  In particular, they praised our ‘integrated approach to chemical science teaching and learning’ and 'high quality problem solving experience' delivered by a ‘strong cohort of staff’ and the ‘good range of both traditional and modern experiments’ which our students carry out in teaching laboratories. They complimented us on our ‘excellent relationships with external placement companies’ and found that we provide very good support to our students during their final year placements.  The department was particularly commended for its varied programme to help students develop transferable skills, which was considered ‘excellent’, and ‘often achieved in a unique way’.

The accreditation of our degrees means that MChem graduates from York are able to claim the title Chartered Chemist (CChem) from the RSC, while students with a BSc qualification fulfil part of the requirements for CChem and are eligible for professional membership of the RSC (AMRSC).